


House of Cards

by Winga



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Gen, The latter half of Cecil's show, With a house of cards surprisingly as the main subject
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-22
Updated: 2015-12-22
Packaged: 2018-05-08 12:35:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5497265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winga/pseuds/Winga
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There is a house built of cards that everyone refers to as the house of cards in Night Vale.</p>
            </blockquote>





	House of Cards

**Author's Note:**

> Another prompt, another Night Vale fic. Oops.

“When I started talking about the house of cards earlier, Carlos, and I may not have mentioned this before, but he’s my boyfriend, the scientist, well, he said, that it can’t be true, because any building built from cards cannot stay up, even though he was thoughtful and started talking about someone called Bryan Berg who must be a magician. Or use glue. But Carlos said, that houses made out of cards shouldn’t stay up, not with how windy it can get and how damp and rainy.

“But there is a house of cards. It was built near the middle of the town some time ago, and I’m surprised Carlos hadn’t seen it. I’ve got calls about it, from curious and worried townsfolk who seem afraid that the house might ruin the city for us.

“’Wouldn’t be the first time such a thing would happen,’ said a caller who told me not to tell you that her name was Jackie. ‘There was a house of cards some decades ago and the owner didn’t know what to do with it, so she pawned it. But it didn’t fit and it broke down before it could be transferred easily to the town’s pawnshop, so the city was full of cards. Full of them. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was her again, believing this to be a different time.’ Jackie also mentioned that she was looking forward to spending some time with family, and added that that’s only something she wanted to tell me, as we are friends.

“The unknown caller wasn’t the only one to inform us about the existence of the house, but others called in as well, some saying that it’s a disgrace that such a house was allowed to be built there and some saying that it seemed quite nice actually and they couldn’t wait to find out who was living in it.

“I myself cannot figure out which it is that I think more. I quite want to find out who has built a house of cards, and it doesn’t seem that they’ve used more than a deck of cards, but then again, hasn’t our town suffered enough?

“More on this as our intern goes through the calls we keep getting on it. Now, a word from our sponsors.

“Do you ever get the feeling that the ground under you is vanishing? Like hell itself is opening its mouth to finally welcome you where you belong, or where you’ve been told for years you belong?

“You are alone in your feeling. None of us share it. None of us have a memory of anything like it happening.

“Look around, Helen. Do you think that the ground is going to swallow you? We know for a fact that it is. The ground is after you. The lord of hell, if such a place exists, wants you. For your last meal, we suggest a bite of Hesburger’s hamburger. Delicious to the moment where the ground catches you. This has been a word from our sponsors.

“Mayor Dana Cardinal has been contacted about the house of cards and she told our intern that she would only talk with me, not with an intern, so here she is. Mayor Cardinal, very nice of you to comment on this matter!”

“Hello Cecil! Been too long since we caught up. We should have dinner some day this week!”

“Yes, that sounds quite delicious. Carlos has been talking about you as well.”

“How is Carlos?”

“He’s great. Doing his science with his friends, like always.”

“Good. Good, this town would be very sad if he stopped doing his science.”

“Yes. I quite agree. Now, Mayor, we have contacted you about the house of cards, built from just one deck of cards. Do you have anything to say on the matter, anything that would shed any light on why it was built and who has built it?”

“Now, Cecil, I noticed the house when I got to work today and I thought to myself what a weird thing it is. No one has asked me if I approve of a house of cards to be built so near to the City Hall. No one! I feel like I’ve been betrayed, like they don’t trust my word anymore. No one has told me who lives in the house, either. I would have approved of it, it would have sounded so nice. But now I don’t know. It seems to be glooming over the town, predicting certain death as it is. I may have to ask someone to see what can be done about it.”

“What you’re saying, Mayor, is that the deck is predicting our future, is it not?”

“Yes. I quite think that’s what I’m saying. Like most things in Night Vale, the house of cards has a lot of explaining to do, and so does the owner of it.”

“Thank you, Mayor. I will send intern Sully to examine the matter and try and locate the owner.”

“Thank _you_ , Cecil. Call me later about that dinner.”

“I will. Have a good day of mayoring.

“Listeners, that was mayor Cardinal telling us that she has no idea who is residing in the house of cards. I have now sent intern Sully to investigate on the matter and I will continue with this when he contacts me with more information.

“On other matters, today in a PTA meeting Diane Crayton, whose son Josh is attending Night Vale High School, suggested a parent-child day to be organised in the school. Steve Carlsberg was far too enthusiastic about this even though he must know Janice will be going with my sister instead of going with him.

“The School Board was contacted with this idea and the Glow Cloud, all hail, said, or informed the other parents, that such a day would be a great addition to the schedule of the students and that the first such day should be arranged as soon as possible. So this is to inform all parents of Night Vale Elementary and High School students that a parent-child day is to be arranged at the schools next Tuesday. All parents are reminded that the teaching must not be interrupted with any activity they might think of to do with their children.

“Intern Sully has sent me texts from the house of cards. There seems to be no one except for half of the town looking at the house to figure it out and Sully has had no luck in finding out who the owner is and whether they live in the house or not. He says that the house is very well built and that even though he stands taller than it, it still seems to be much larger than him. Others standing around confirming this and they say that the house seems to pose a threat towards our community. Sully has promised to contact me if there’s a change and even if there isn’t and I shall keep you updated.

“Jackie Fierro, the owner of Jackie’s Pawn Shop, has contacted me to tell me that I wasn’t supposed to tell her name earlier in the program. I must apologize. The anonymous caller must have been anonymous and any affiliations with Jackie are purely coincidental. Sorry, Jackie. Have a nice evening with your family.

“Now, the traffic.

“The light of the Sun that might not even exist in our galaxy, no matter what Carlos says, has travelled down a long journey. It has touched many places, many beings, but right now it’s gracing a car standing nearby an empty parking lot. The parking lot itself is empty, because no one knows it exists, and no one ever asked it if it wanted to exist or be full of cars. But if we were to ask, the parking lot would tell us that it is perfectly fine with how the situation now is. We are not to ask.

“The car is lonely, even though the Sun is gracing it with its presence and the two of them share a moment where they think of what the world is going to be when the human kind ceases to exist. They both think that the day is going to be sooner than any of the humans they know think. They know it will be sooner, and the end of Night Vale feels for them to be mere seconds away. Seconds after which the car will be rusty and old and the Sun will be greying but still shining. Still reminding car of this day. But the car is lonely most of the time, as it has been abandoned and the previous owner of it never comes back to look at it. Only the Sun and vast emptiness speak to it, both whispering promises of a new day, of the demise of those who have abandoned them.

“The car wishes it could start again. It can’t. It never will. It will forever stay lonely, with only two companions. Unless you get lost. And you will, but you might not get lost in the right way, which would still leave the car lonely. This has been the traffic.

“Back to main news of the day, the house of cards. Intern Sully has been sending me even more texts, this time pictures as well, and he says that some of them must contain the owner of the house. He says it feels like it. ‘I mean I know that I don’t know who the owner is but why would they leave such a good house alone for such a long time? I wouldn’t leave my house alone if it was made from just a deck of cards. Such looming cards,’ his text says, and there’s a picture of the house. Next to the house there’s a shape. It is not quite human, but it seems like a queen of the cards. It is uncertain which queen it would be.

“I’ve sent Sully back a text to look at his photographs. He says he’s noticed the shape and he’s quite afraid that the shape is more than just a shape. And maybe it is. Maybe it isn’t. If it is, this town might be in more danger than it has been since last Wednesday. We all remember last Wednesday and the almost nearly apocalypse. No one wants that again.

“The reports from others near the house vary from ‘What a creepy house, it seems to be watching me’ to ‘I think the queen of clubs is missing, does anyone else notice that?’ to ‘Why are you asking me questions? I should be the one asking the questions. In fact, here’s one: Why aren’t you at work? Why aren’t you with your family? Your family misses you. No one remembers what you look like. Go to your family.’ More on this after the Weather.”

_Death Team – Dolphin Style playing_

“Whew, that was some Weather, wasn’t it? I hope you found it inspirational for we have heard more from the house of cards. The house of cards has been worrying the townsfolk for a few days now and today it has only gotten worse.

“What happened during the weather is that someone accidentally stepped on the house of cards. Intern Sully managed to get a photograph of this happening, and it only has a leg and a broken down house and a shape distorted in pain. Or something. I think it’s pain and Sully agreed.

“The people have disappeared from the scene and Sully has come back in one piece. He’s smiling triumphantly for some reason although I would too, if I had been there to witness something as interesting. Mayor Dana Cardinal sent a text as well, she said that it felt like the looming doom has been lifted for a while, and everyone else has been saying the same thing. It does feel like it, doesn’t it?

“What we’ve learnt from this, dear listeners, is that the looming death is only as stable as a house of cards. Someone might stomp on it and then it vanishes. Remember this the next time you’re feeling like death is looming after you. Remember, that it only takes someone to step on it to make you feel better. Not you, Helen. Your demise is coming. You will be caught.

“What I mean to say is this: keep your friends close and those that can stomp down a house of cards even closer. That is how you keep yourself safe. You might never die if you have someone to walk over your fears. You might never die might be a fear also, but don’t worry, someone will help you with that as well.

“Goodnight, Night Vale, goodnight. Stay tuned next for voiceless voices whispering their fears into your ears only to make you fearful as well.”


End file.
